


DISCOURSE, 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE GRADUATING CLASS 



OF 



THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON, 



AT THEIR REQUEST, 



IN THE COLLEGE CHAPEL, 



February 23d, 1851, 



By Rev. Prof. J . W . M I L E S . 



PUBLISHED BY THE CLASS. 



CHARLESTON: 
JOHN RUSSELL, 

256 King-st. 
l6i)l. 



DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED BEFORE 

THE GRADUATING CLASS 

OF" 



THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON, 



AT THEIR REQUEST, 



IN TIIECOLLEGE CHAPEL, 



February 23d, 1851, 

/ 
J 

By Rev. Prof. J. W. MILES. 



o 



PUBLISHED BY THE CLASS. 



CHARLESTON: 

JOHN RUSSELL, 
256 King-st. 

1851, 



•V 



U5^ 



TO 

THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 1851, 
THIS DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED AT THEIR REQUEST, 

IS DEDICATED 

AS A MEMENTO OF FRIENDSHIP, 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



^ 






DISCOURSE. 



"Covet earnestly the best Gifts." — 1st Cor., 12, in v. 31. 

This period, gentlemen, when the associations of the past, 
and the anticipations for the future, are so intimately blended, 
is naturally one of great importance to you, and of deep inter- 
est to us. The relations, but we trust not the ties, which have 
connected us, are henceforth to be altered. Life opens before 
you with new reality and importance ; and we can not but 
watch your future career with lively interest and sympathy, 
in the hope that the bonds of mutual respect and friendship 
will become strengthened by the hand of Time, which can only 
touch with decay what is earthly and ignoble. You are about 
to enter a new sphere of responsibilities and duties, in which 
every act will leave a deeper impress upon character, and sta- 
tion — upon the immortal soul and the eternal record. At such 
a time, amidst the attractive topics which might, perhaps, be 
not inappropriately selected as the theme of present discourse, 
we cannot hesitate directing our attention to v*rhat may seem 
to be the homely and obvious, but nevertheless, everlasting 
principles, upon which alone a truly noble eminence can be 
founded, and which can alone support us unfaulteringly in 
adversity, moderate us in prosperity, guide us in difficulty, 
nerve us in danger, ennoble us amidst desertion, calumny, and 
neglect, and elevate us, even amidst the pangs of dissolution, 
above Earth, and Time, and Death. 

It is a wise and beneficent arrangement of Providence, that 
the stern trials of life, while seen in the distance, are gilded to 
the eye of youth with the brightness of hope, and crowned with 
the diadem of honorable success. While we stand upon the 
threshold of the arena in which we are to mingle in the great 



battle of the world, we are not deceived by the illusion that 
the contest is but pastime, and that the crown is to be won 
with flower- wreathed weapons ; but the natural enthusiasm 
and ambition of youth, incite us fearlessly to the contest, and 
nerve us to strike boldly for the crown. The young man who 
enters that contest with no enthusiasm — no lofty aspirations — 
no fixed determination to conquer — is palsied in the very in- 
stincts which should characterise the bloom of manhood. But 
when, in the actual and earnest strife, those swelling instincts, 
which Providence has given us to bear us bravely into the 
battle, become tried by opposition, reined by judgment, directed 
by prudence, repressed by disappointment, sneered at by cold 
calculation, jeered and scorned by shallow utilitarianism, 
chilled by the soulless egotism of cliques and parties, over- 
whelmed and crushed by disaster and failure — what shall save 
the man from hopelessly succumbing to misfortune, recklessr 
ness, or despair ? At what immortal shrine shall those waning 
fires of youthful hope, enthusiasm, and ambition, rekindle with 
undying brilliancy and vigor their glorious flames ? At the 
altar of that Religion, which, placing man in a new relation to 
the Supreme Father, fills him with the high consciousness that 
his life is related to futurity, is inwoven with an eternal drama, 
and possesses a significancy of everlasting import, even if it 
pass through this brief stage involved in the deepest obscurity 
and neglect. It is God himself who nourishes the fires of holy 
hope — of sanctified enthusiasm^ in the soul of the christian ; 
and who, in teaching him that every act in the sphere wherein 
Providence has placed him, has an immortal end — also animates 
him with the certainty of a reward, beyond all that the most 
sanguine imagination could paint, or to which the most daring 
ambition could aspire. 

The desire for distinction is natural, and, therefore, when 
rightly directed, is laudable and honorable. Every moral 
being, in his assigned sphere, has a special calling to fulfil ; 
and animated by the consciousness that he is thus work- 



ing for God, his necessary toil becomes a labor of love. 
But there is also a false desire for fame, to which we are liable, 
and M^hich must be here indicated and condemned. We some^ 
times cheat ourselves with the delusion, that we desire distinc- 
tion and power in order to benefit our race — that we wish to 
make our life a grand reality for all coming ages — while we 
shrink with disgust from the slow, weary, often obscure toil, 
by which alone true renown can be won. We turn impatiently 
from the labor which must be silently and wearilessly pursued, 
unknown to the world, cheered and sustained only by faith in 
God, in the work, and in the future ; and we cannot consent to 
the long entombment in the chrysalis, with its unseen, solitary 
toils, for the sake of the glorious out-bursting of the future 
psyche. Or we may, perhaps, imagine that it is not the toil, 
the present obscurity, from which we slirink ; but the uncer- 
tainty of the issue : that we may lose every opportunity for 
fame, by consuming life upon an object which will prove inca- 
pable of conferring renown ; and that life is too brief to admit 
of many experiments, or the rectification of many errors in the 
selection of an object. We may thus fluctuate in doubt be- 
tween countless plans, which may at once give us fame ; and 
we make the mistake of supposing, that if we could, by some 
brilliant and rapidly executed effort, satisfy our craving for 
distinction, we would then be better empowered to benefit 
mankind, and would possess a new stimulus to steady and la- 
borious toil. Fame is not the instrument of usefulness until 
it has been won as the guerdon of earnest work. But we may 
be longing for a fame which is fleeting breath, and for which 
we would make all effort merely the means of attainment. 
There is, however, a greater word than fame. Pursue Duty 
with conscientious earnestness ; and even without aiming at 
renown, it will be the sure result of worthy performance. 

The soul, which has a special work to perform, must pursue 
its calling by the resistless impulse — the necessities of its own 
desires and cravings. It must, it will, utter itself; and the more 



emphatically, from the opposition and barriers through which 
it is compelled to make itself a way. It speaks, it acts, because 
it must ; and fame it leaves to come or not, as the futute shall 
reveal. If its work and calling be great, it has an instinct that 
renown must be its free reward. The reward seen glittering 
in the distance may cheer and elevate ; but its work, its calling, 
its mission, is that which absorbs the energies of the earnest 
soul, and is that for which it labors. It labors not for fame as 
an end, because fame must be the necessary consequence of the 
great work, whose achievem.ent is the true end of its toil, its 
enthusiasm, and its devotion. 

If the soul feels that it must labor only for fame — that it has 
pov/ers to achieve it — and that fa,me is the end, and object, and 
goal of its toil — that object it may attain ; but it will accomplish 
no great work which Humanity will revere and cherish as a 
glory and benefit to the race. The fame thus obtained will be 
only an homage to the powers of the individual man. But 
when the individual is identified with the great work which is 
to be an eternal glory and benefit to Humanity, in that work 
will he find the satisfaction of his soul and its aspirations ; and 
immortal fame and renown will be accorded him by his race, 
whether he has consciously labored for them or not — a fame 
and renown which the race will jealously cherish as a part of 
its own glory. 

But there is another mistake which we may commit. We 
may confound immortality with the fame which we covet. 
We may not believe that one's name can live, except in the 
renown accorded by posterity. We may make, therefore, no 
account of the quiet, unobtrusive path of daily duty; and those 
who are obscurely pursuing that path, and doing nothing to 
leave a name known to, and admired by the world, we may 
regard as scarcely worthy the name of living. If we so think, 
we forget that thousands may live unknown, die forgotten, 
leave no visible trace of their silent existence, and yet, in faith- 
fully performing the humble duties of daily life, lay up for 



11 

and how different will be our estimate of what often presentsf 
such dazzling attractions to the buoyant enthusiasm of youth. 
We see men who have been ennobled by genius and high qual- 
ifications, exalting themselves above their fellow men, and 
winning a distinction, the admiration of which almost makes 
us apologists for their faults. We see, for instance, the hum- 
ble and poor soldier, actuated by what he doubtless considered 
real patriotism, serving his country without a dream of the 
boundless ambition which slumbered in his breast ; unconscious 
of the gigantic powers which were not yet roused into action. 
We see him, step by step, towering upward — plan after plan 
becoming developed — energy after energy awakened, put forth, 
increasing. We see him snatch opportunities which others did 
not perceive — direct minds which unconsciously owned his in- 
tellectual superiority — deflect even the interests of country to 
subserve individual designs — and at length, we begin to lose 
sight of the means by which he has wrought, in our admiration 
of the humble soldier, elevated to the headship of a great na- 
tion. We see vast schemes open upon his mind, which are 
forthwith matured with intuitive quickness, and executed with 
irresistible promptitude. We see the inexhaustible resources 
of his genius poured out to make yet loftier steps of ascent ; 
his own people — princes — kings — mighty prelates, bowing like 
menials to the furtherance of his stupendous designs ; and we 
become almost enraptured with a character so elevated and 
brilliant. But what has been the object of all this scheming 
and enterprise ? The benefit of mankind ? The good of his 
country ? The glory of God ? Ask the thousand souls hurled 
into eternity from amidst the din and blasphemy of his battle- 
fields. Ask the cruelly deserted wife, whose fidelity and love 
were bartered for hollow alliance with faithless and hostile 
princes. Ask deceived Poland, and the groaning commerce of 
ravaged Europe. While, with the genius of Caesar and the 
unprincipledness of Alcibiades, he worshipped self, and sacri- 
ficed the world at that miserable shrine; his crown was already 



12 

a circlet of ashes — his sceptre a thing of dust. Without pre- 
suming, even in imagination, to look beyond his earthly career, 
is there any one, who, putting faith in the Savior of mankind, 
would risk the awful eminence of that soldier's renown in 
earthly annals, while the solemn warning is ringing in his ears: 
"what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, 
and lose his own soul ?" 

Again, we see the accomplished student, gifted with a versa- 
tility of talent which seems almost to place universal knowledge 
within his grasp. We see him possessed of a vivacity of 
genius which never tired ; a wit ever brilliant — a power of 
sarcasm scathing and merciless. We see him rapidly soar 
aloft like the eagle upon the wings of fame ; his society courted 
by the great ones of the earth — his voluminous productions 
spreading far and wide his celebrated name ; and at length he 
is regarded as an oracle by circles of no mean attainment in 
literature. We see the influence of his opinion felt throughout 
a continent ; and we can scarce do aught else than admire his 
extraordinary powers and transcendent abilities. We may see, 
perhaps, many an aspirant after literary distinction, panting to 
attain the eminence upon which this man has placed himself. 
Poetry, history, criticism, philosophy — he touches all with a 
familiar and masterly hand. But we are compelled to ask if 
these powers were sanctified, and embalmed in the faith which 
will render them immortal 1 And the ghastly spectre of scep- 
ticism mocks our query, as it claims their devotion to itself. 
Throughout the pages of his splendid creations — from amidst 
the gorgeous wreaths and rich flowers of his poetry — from be- 
tween the attractive texture of his historical narratives — from 
among the stately pillars of his philosophical structures — there 
protrudes the mocking grin of a death's head of scepticism. 
There is a just scepticism, it is true, but it stands at the portal 
of real and profound knowledge. He who has never anxiously 
and truly doubted, has, perhaps, seldom reached that secure 
and sunny height, where Reason and Faith are blended in in- 



13 

dissoluble conviction. But there is also a scepticism, which is 
the dark and dimming exhalation from our moral nature, ren- 
dered turbid by sin. It arises from the unwilling heart, and, 
creeping upwards, it obscures the intellect ; until, in seeking 
grounds for its justification, the perverted understanding mis- 
takes it for its own creation. It casts its baleful shadow over 
the dearest hopes of man, and blinding him to his truest wisdom 
and his securest happiness, it drives him to sever the sacred 
tie between heaven and earth, and to imagine that his reason 
is overpowered by difficulties and arguments, which would at 
once vanish like mist, if only the heart was willing to know 
its wants, and to open its chambers to the purifying influence 
of Divine Love. Turn from the noon-day triumph of that 
genius we have been contemplating, to its lurid sunset, when 
it is sinking into Eternity. How terrible — how pathetic, is the 
contrast ! The scornful Titan, who in the pride of power, sought 
to sweep away the life and actions of the Savior of mankind 
from the records of history, as though His Religion, moved by 
an Omnipotent Providence, would not still be enshrined in the 
hearts of men, even were every trace of its early history obli- 
terated ; now chained by Remorse, tremblingly asks for an 
argument — not against Christianity — not even against a hell — 
but gazing from the brink of Eternity, he asks for some argu- 
ment against the perpetuity of torment — he drives from him 
his attendants in horror at his phrensied anguish. Shall we 
say that this is the effect of disease— the distempered imagina- 
tion of a weakened mind ? We will not dare attempt to lift 
the- veil from the dealings of Jehovah with the souls whom he 
summons to his mercy or wrath. But leaving the man to the 
wisdom of his Creator, we may ask if any could covet his fame, 
who believe the pregnant declaration : "verily, it is a fearful 
thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 

We see again, one skilful, and wise, and subtle, amidst every 
political storm and every change of dynasty, riding aloft in 
confidence and power. Consecrated once unto the service of 



14 

God, appointed to rule in the vineyard of the Lord, yet abandon- 
ing his sacred functions, and, with consummate ability, making 
himself a name among the intriguers, and statesmen, and diplo- 
matists of earth, shall we envy his proud eminence, of sitting, 
amidst every change, at the head of the council-board of kings ? 
Death must be met. When his hair had grown gray in apos- 
tacy, and his strength had failed in the service of fluctuating 
politics, all that his doubtful soul could catch at — a fleeting 
shadow, to wrap about it — as it was driven forth naked into 
eternity, was the touch of the consecrated oil, and the dying 
participation of the sacred bread. Would we take his talents, 
his dexterity, his distinction, combined with the terrible doubt 
overhanging broken vows — an unholy life — a death-bed ac- 
quiescence in the rites of religion ? There is a solemn voice 
which restrains us ; it tells us, " no man can serve two masters;" 
it bids us ask our souls, "what shall the end be of them who 
obey not the Gospel of God ?" 

We see the gifted poet, at an early age, winning for himself 
a magnificent fame by the splendor of his muse, and adding 
to it the reputation of a generous disinterestedness, by casting 
in his fortunes with those of struggling patriotism. We see 
him, by the power of his genius, ever drawing new strains from 
the oft-struck lyre ; and by a dash of his hand, as it were, con- 
signing to temporary obscurity in the public estimation, writers 
of talent and real genius. We see him encircle himself with 
such dazzling corruscations, that we almost forget in admira- 
tion of the Poet to contemplate the character of the man. The 
eagle soarings of that harp can not claim to be consecrated, 
because it has also sweetly murmured some feeble melodies 
about the sacred people. Its noblest notes are struck to the 
wild breathings of morbid passion ; or its most enchanting 
melodies are poured in attractive grace around vice ; or its 
bewitching strains are prostituted to ribaldry, immorality, and 
impiety. And when his personal influence died, his literary 
bans were dissolved, and he was about to go and give account 



15 

of his talents, and exchange his earthly fame for the impartial and 
enduring doom of eternity, charity might weep, and even envy 
tremble, at the thought, that the genius Vv'ho had placed in the 
mouth of Lucifer the aw^ful truth, " he who bows not to God, 
hath bowed to me," should die, "and give no sign." True, it is 
said, that upon the dying bed he permitted the prayers of the 
Church to be read to him at times. We measure not the bound- 
less compassion of God, who is as just in retribution, as he is 
merciful in the gifts and opportunities which he bestows upon 
the children of probation. But who that believed the Savior's 
truth, would choose a fame, won at the cost of conflict with 
the Savior's words, "not every one shall enter the kingdom of 
heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in 
heaven." 

We see the laborious scholar, at an early age, challenging 
distinction for the extent of his information, and the accuracy 
of his historic composition. We see him devoting years of 
unwearied application to the construction of a monument of 
genius, which will identify the endurance of his name with the 
memory of the great and wonderful Empire, whose varied for- 
tunes he has so magnificently and graphically delineated. We 
also behold him as he has pictured forth himself from the heart, 
which the eye of man could not otherwise have scanned. And 
we find him bandying from theory to theory in Theology, an- 
chored upon no sure rock of safety, "blown about by every 
wind and wave of doctrine," until he is stranded, and wrecked, 
and engulfed, in the shifting and smothering quick-sands of 
infidelity. His own hand presents him but as a finished statue 
of selfishness. Beneath all the adornment of learning, fame, and 
cultivation, there is the iciness of spiritual death. And God, 
in his providence, has ordained, that the very monument of his 
earthly fame should be disfigured and distorted in its symmetry, 
by his own hand recording thereupon the deforming scepticism, 
whose unworthy sneers deface the nobleness of his stately crea- 
tion. It is doubtful whether he ever more than half disbelieved; 



16 

but literary greatness can not clothe the soul with the garment;^, 
of salvation, or afford consolation in the world of eternal real- 
ities. We shrink from a fame coupled with the rejection of 
Him who has solemnly declared, " he who is not with me, is 
against me." 

But time compels us to turn from the records of History, and 
to address ourselves to the duties of the present. Those ex- 
amples have been selected, not because they are the worst of 
their respective classes, but because they are among the most 
illustrious. The full and willing tribute which we can pay to 
the great achievements of their genius, should render more un- 
suspected and emphatic, the condemnation which we must 
pronounce upon the erroneous employment of their gifts. If 
their brilliant renown, destitute as it is of all that can illumine 
and comfort the most momentous hour of existence, presents 
nothing which a rational believer in Christianity can envy or 
covet ; surely, we should aim at no distinction which is not 
founded upon the righteous discharge of duty, and gilded by the 
sacred light of a clear conscience towards God and man. The 
earnest aspiration for honorable fame may be a characteristic 
of the greatest and noblest souls ; the impatient craving for 
present notoriety is too often a mark of narrow and selfish 
minds. The truest path to worthy distinction, is a conscien- 
tious discharge of the duties which lie immediately before us. 
We are often unable to foresee the remote consequences of 
present action, but Providence never, perhaps, leaves us igno- 
rant of the duty of the moment ; and if that be faithfully per- 
formed, we need entertain no anxiety respecting ulterior re- 
sults, for as we step onward in the path ol duty, the way will 
open before us, and we will derive strength, confidence and 
light, from every successive advance. The young man pos- 
sesses at least one eminent advantage towards the acquisition 
of clear views, before he becomes deeply implicated in promi- 
nent action. Modesty is his prerogative, which, while it pro- 
tects him often from the serious weight of responsibility resting 



17 

upon those whose position is to lead and form opinion, it affords 
him the invaluable right of an honorable suspense and delay, 
in gathering information, in extending observation, and in 
deliberately weighing the position to which he must commit 
himself; while, at the same time, it involves no pusillanimous 
shrinking from the firmest support of what is just and right. 
But the young man possesses this advantage, that what might 
sometimes seem vacillation or weakness in the man of maturity, 
years, and influence, may be justly attributed to modesty in the 
youth, who shows an earnest desire to discover the truth, and 
a firm determination to pursue it. Indeed, modesty, while 
peculiarly becoming to youth, can never cease being a beautiful 
ornament of every age, when it is worn in its true character 
as an accompanying grace to firmness, and is not confounded 
with its spurious counterfeit — a morbid timidity and indecision. 
This latter may be united with the most consummate vanity, 
and inordinate, while unfounded, craving for notoriety and 
fame ; but the former almost invariably accompanies a large 
intellect, a sound judgment, a genuine courage, and a high 
determination worthily to win the most honorable, and the 
greatest attainable, distinction. 

Among the various temptations and trials which beset the 
path of life, there is one which almost every sensitive and pro- 
gressive mind will be called to encounter. The sneering charge 
of inconsistency will often try the moral courage, and tempt 
to a sluggish acquiescence in error and indifference. There is 
only one species of inconsistency which justly brings reproach; 
it is, to know an error, and yet to persist in it ; to claim to be 
a rea-sonable being, and yet to be indifferent to the discovery 
of truth ; to recognize sound principle in theory, and to contra- 
dict it in practice. But it must ever be noble to acknowledge 
our ignorance and errors, and to endeavor to correct them. It 
is a feeble mind which never makes progress , and it is a sort 
of reproach to Providence, in view of the opportunities afforded 
us for expei'ience and information, to boast that we have ever 
3 



18 

remained stationary, and have never stepped beyond the circle 
of our youthful range of vision. It is true, that enlarged in- 
formation and more extended views, do not necessarily imply 
a change of position or principles. There are some principles 
v^hich are unchangeable, and which we cannot hold too early, 
too late, or too firmly. But the charge of inconsistency is too 
generally brought against some change of opinion or policy, 
which clashes with party and prejudice. It is next to impossible, 
that even the most comprehensive mind, with the comparatively 
limited information with which we commence our career, should 
not, in the course of events, see cause for a modification, and 
even sometimes a radical change, of opinion and view. It is 
as weak to be influenced by every novelty, as it is manful to 
avow frankly a change of opmion upon reasonable grounds. To 
be consistent in the pursuit of truth, of right, of what is best for 
the highest interests of our country and mankind, is the most 
honorable consistency, although to maintain it may cost the 
surrender to reason, to duty, and to enlightened conscience, of 
the most cherished theories and the dearest ties. 

The differences of opinion, and the laws of sympathy, which 
are incident to humanity, must always give rise to party com- 
binations. They are, doubtless, wisely ordained by Providence 
for the development and preservation of Truth and Liberty, 
which seem destined to advance and maintain their position, 
by contrast, trial, opposition, and energetic action. Apathy 
and stagnation tend to falsehood and slavery. Yet the very 
nature of party has ever a tendency to partial and one-sided 
views ; and the man who 'strives to stand above its narrow 
trammels, is always liable to be misunderstood by the mass, 
and to be reproached as inconsistent, or as indifferent to prin- 
ciples. But there is the widest difference between adopting 
one's principles from a party ; and first settling those eternal 
principles which must be the touch-stone of all policy, and then 
acting with a party so far as it is a supporter of those princi- 
ples, and presents the most practicable means of honestly work- 



19 

ing them out. Men will often, rather obstinately shut their 
eyes to the plainest facts and the most cogent reasoning, than 
encounter the startling shock of admitting the possibility of 
some system or theory becoming untenable, which they have 
been accustomed to identify with absolute truth. Not habit- 
uated to rest back upon broad and ultimate principles, which 
are immoveable amidst every change, and are the basis of 
truth wherever it may be found, they are cast into hopeless 
perplexity, and seem to be cut loose from every solid standing- 
place, as soon as their theory is demolished, beyond which they 
have never learned to look for certainty or truth. It thus fre- 
quently happens, that the most decided party-men indignantly 
repel the epithet of partisan, because they can conceive of no 
broader basis of truth than the principles which characterize 
their peculiar school, and are unable to distinguish between 
what is really permanent, and what, as merely matter of opin- 
ion, may be changed or abandoned without detriment to the 
essential and everlasting truth itself. The wisest are liable to 
contound the accidental with the essential ; and there is, cer- 
tainly, sometimes danger, that in yielding the former, we loosen 
also our hold upon the latter. But the danger is individual 
and personal ; the truth itself can never fail or be destroyed. 
Nor should we lose sight of the opposite danger, that in obsti- 
nately confounding the accidental with the essential, we ob- 
scure the cause and progress of Truth, and expose it to needless 
attack and opposition. There have been innumerable instances 
of great abilities and logical powers, united with narrow and 
illiberal views, because there is a kind of wrong-headed con- 
servatism common to man, which suspiciously regards every 
thing beyond the established and habitual range of thought and 
dogmas, as a latitudinarian and dangerous innovation ; and 
which will rather fondly cling to familiar errors, than manfully 
make a just concession, or meet a necessity for large and dis- 
criminating reform. It thus endangers what is really worth 
preserving, by holding on to the rubbish-like accretions that 



20 

have grown about it, with, an undiscriminating tenacity which 
provokes the most destructive and radical opposition. No one 
set of dogmas — no one sect — no one party — can any more be 
in possession of the whole truth, than any single region can 
comprise every variety of clime and product. Truth belongs 
not to this man, this school, or this age ; but it is the property 
of Humanity. Like the universal canopy of Heaven, while it 
affords to each region a view of some particular constellations; 
it opens widest its vast and harmonious glories, to the eye 
which elevated above the mists and obstructions of passion, 
controversy, and party, extends with largest sweep its horizon 
of vision. It is better to stand independently the hostile mark, 
if needs be, of all parties, than to be the slave of any narrow 
school. Time will assuredly bring the justification of truth 
and right; and we may, therefore, well endure the present 
suspicion, misunderstanding, and obloquy, which will as cer- 
tainly fade away as the narrow-minded and party controversies 
from which they sprung. Those controversies may even last 
for centuries, and enthral the general mind as matters of vital 
import. The progress of enlarged and independent views of 
Truth is alwa,ys slow, but its victory is the surer from the very 
strife through which it must battle every step of its way, and, 
sooner or later, the smoke of the contest rolls away, and the 
true position of the combatants is revealed and recognized. 
It is, however, almost superfluous to remind you, that there 
have been illustrious examples of the most ardent devotion to 
truth and patriotism, unfettered by the narrowness of sects and 
untrammeled by the prejudices of party. 

It is a common truism, that in nothing is excellency to be 
attained without labor and application. Even the rare prerog- 
ative of genius can not disdain the auxiliaries of learning and 
systematic toil. Indeed, the greatest geniuses have generally 
been the most laborious workmen. And perhaps few errors 
have caused such apparently inexplicable disappointments, as 
the gross mistake that brilliant talents and unregulated efforts 



\ 

21 

can supply the deficiency of matured information and steady 
application. The world will go onwards ; and the man who 
expects merely by shining parts, without conscientious and 
progressive cultivation of his talents, to maintain his position, 
will find his slender resources soon exhausted ; and although 
he may glitter brilliantly for a time, he will rapidly be left 
behind by his advancing age, until he glimmers faintly in the 
distance, and is at last lost in the obscurity of uselessness and 
oblivion. There are, doubtless, honorable spheres of activity 
and usefulness, in which neither high ability nor extensive 
information are demanded, and to which, these remarks can 
only apply in a very modified manner. Yet, the general neces- 
sity and duty of intellectual progress is clear ; and, certainly, 
the professional man who is not a constant and earnest learner, 
is an anomaly, and a contradiction to his position. 

But if the error of reliance upon talents alone has produced 
disappointment, the opposite mistake of affecting universal 
knowledge, has been a fruitful cause of failure. Some few 
miracles of genius, have, indeed, seemed almost to compass the 
vast circle of the learning of their day. But it is a circle which 
is ever widening ; and had we the combined stores of Leibnitz 
and Sir William Jones, we would still stand only at the 
threshold of the boundless field, which seems to be ever enlar- 
ging its domain with accelerated rapidity. The man who pre- 
tends to know everything, will very likely be found ignorant 
of what, from his position, he ought to know best ; and he will 
probably be even a greater sciolist than he, who, despising the 
acquisition of knowledge from every source which can afford 
it, confines his limited draughts to a few favorite springs. The 
elaborate and thorough pursuit of any one department of know- 
ledge, will naturally lead investigation into the greatest variety 
of collateral and illustrative departments, and will thus not only 
open a field which a life-time can not exhaust, but w^ill also 
give unity and consistency to the most varied acquisitions. But 
it can not be necessary to do more than remind you, that the 



22 

mere accumulation of learning, which makes one only a kind 
of walking library, is of comparatively little value, unless it 
contributes to habits of enlarged, independent^ and accurate 
thought, of discriminating judgment, and of a just application 
and employment of acquired stores. Education is never com- 
pleted. It begins with the first gleam of consciousness, and 
continues with the unfolding and exercise of the immortal fa- 
culties, into that eternity where ever new volumes of the ex- 
ha,ustless works, and wisdom, and dealings of God, will cease- 
lessly display their boundless treasures to the wondering soul. 
What we call education^ in a more limited and technical sense, 
has not for its object the imparting of facts and information in 
their ordinary acceptation, except as they incidentally subserve 
and contribute to the higher object of educing the fall faculties 
of the intellectual and moral being, and giving them, as far as 
possible, their truest direction and their best efficiency. If we 
regard it practically, as embracing everything which will make 
the best citizen and the best man, it is evident that no seminary 
of learning, whatever its advantages, can supply that culture 
which must depend upon the moral sense and conscientious 
labor of the individual, or can do more than introduce him to 
the path of duty and the work of life. At that threshold, gen- 
tlemen, we are about to bid you farewell. And if, in addition 
to the habits of intellectual exercise, the sources of information, 
and the principles which we have endeavored to impart, we 
have likewise been so fortunate as to aid in inspiring you with 
a high conception of duty, a lofty aim for usefulness, and a firm 
determination to fulfil manfully, in conscientious reliance upon 
God, the responsibilities of life ; we shall feel that our connec- 
tion has not been in vain ; we shall proudly remember the ties 
which have united us ; we shall indulge the hope, that you 
will cherish a pleasing and grateful recollection of the hours 
not uselessly spent in our academic pursuits ; and we shall be 
among the first to hail, with cordial sympathy, every honorable 
distinction which crowns the toils and virtues of your course. 



23 

While, as men of education, it will be your privilege and duty 
to pursue every species of intellectual cultivation, which cir- 
cumstances will permit or profession may demand, suffer me, 
with serious and affectionate earnestness, to exhort you, not to 
neglect the surest source of tranquil satisfaction in prosperity, 
and of priceless consolation in adversity and sorrow. How 
many sad mistakes — how many bitter hours, would have been 
saved to many a youth, had he early learned to draw wisdom 
and consolation from the exhaustless fountains, of the Sacred 
Scriptures, of the sustaining and comforting grace of the Holy 
Spirit, and of the mighty, yet gentle, influences of the Savior's 
love. Perhaps already some sorrow hath touched your hearts, 
which is even yet green in your household memories. If I may 
dare, with reverent step, to tread the verge of such sacred pre- 
cincts, I would exhort you, by every tender and solemn remem- 
brance, to turn to that Compassionate One, who only wounds to 
draw us to himself, whose mercies never fail, and whose gra- 
cious promises are ever fulfilied to the contrite and faithful. 
May the power of His Religion guide, sustain, and comfort you 
through life. May its sacred principles direct your aims, illus- 
trate your characters, elevate your performance of duty, and 
ennoble the last hours of your earthly career. Let your firm- 
ness in the cause of Truth and Duty, while based like adamant 
upon broad and carefully ascertained principles, be tempered 
with that christian charity, which can courteously tolerate a 
difference of opinion, and magnanimously scorn to depreciate 
an opponent. Leave to the narrow-minded partisan the petty 
disputes about mint, and anise, and cummin, knowing that the 
controversies of the day, in the next age often possess the sole 
interest of wonder, at a contest earnestly waged about insigni- 
ficant trifles ; and that in the really great controversies for 
everlasting Truth and universal Principles, the triumph mus^ 
and can only be upon one side and in one cause. Except the 
great and comprehensive problems which affect man's intellec- 
tual, religious, and civil freedom, his social and political rights 



24 

and progress, and the truth and advance of Christianity, there 
is hardly a controversy which is worth engaging seriously the 
energies of an enlarged and liberal mind, and which can do more 
than arouse an interest for the present, and finally sink into des- 
tined obscurity. Be cheered by the conviction that no earnest 
word of truth is ever uttered wholly in vain, and that no earnest 
life of duty is ever entirely lost and fruitless. Remembering the 
final tribunal, to which the subject of injustice can always con- 
fidently appeal — before which we all must inevitably stand — 
press onward, in the strength of God, to the worthiest perform- 
ance and the noblest crown. Let no glowing dreams of ima- 
gination turn you from the path of usefulness ; let no cold util- 
itarianism chill the generous glow of worthy enthusiasm; let 
no worldly considerations deflect you from the honorable and 
immortal aim of enlightened christians. 

Gentlemen, my task is done. I should feel greater anxiety 
respecting the inadequate manner in which it has been perform- 
ed, had I not confidence in your own determination for the fu- 
ture, and did I not know that the last counsels which you will 
receive from your Alma Mater, will be delivered from lips far 
more able to counsel than mine, and to whose honored and 
admirable advice, will be added the weight of a longer and 
more familiar intercourse with you than I have enjoyed. I 
thank you for the opportunity which you have kindly afforded 
me of addressing you — I thank you for the recollections which 
you have enabled me to associate -with, our past relations — and 
I fervently pray that the God of all grace may guide and pro- 
tect you through life — may crown your efforts with success and 
honorable distinction — may support and console you in all 
trials and difficulties— may make you useful in your genera- 
tion, and sanctify you in body, soul, and spirit, that He may 
receive you at the last blameless into His eternal kingdom. 



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